Meet our Campus Celebrities of the week! From left to right: Fernando Irrizary, age 19; Michelle Perez, age 18; Marcos Ortiz, age 18; Brian Torres, age 20. Picture taken at “Viajes de estudio: Verano 2015” exhibition in the School of Architecture. The four of them are Second Year, Environmental Design Students in the School of Architecture.
Lets start with the basics:
HCUPR: What are some of your interests?
Fernando: Marcos loves cleaning(laughs).
Brian: He has to have all his shoes aligned. One time, we stayed only one night in a place and Marcos took all of his clothes out of his bag and put them in drawers and hangers.
Michelle: All of the coins were organized by order, size, etc.
HCUPR: The good thing is that you had one person that was really organized.
HCUPR: Tell us an experience that impacted you on the Summer Trip?
Marcos: I think it was the city, seeing so many people in one place. Compared to Puerto Rico, major cities in Europe have a very dense population.
Brian: Definitely taking the train, where you can have like ten diferent rails connecting to each other. The good thing is that there you can go from the airport by train to the city and it shows the massive transportation system they have. The buildings were so tall, the fachada was very antique and inside it was so modern. Also, let’s not forget the food.
Fernando: Something that really impacted me was that they didn’t have straws, everywhere you go you get served in a cup of glass. Even the Coke’s are in the glass bottle and the bottles are scratched all over because they are recycled. The bags at the markets had to be recyclable.
Marcos: When you go there you notice how expensive Puerto Rico is.
Brian: Portugal is very inexpensive.
Michelle: Spain, too.
Brian: Like a bottled water can cost you around 17 cents.
HCUPR: How long was the trip?
Fernando: Marcos, Brian and I went to Portugal first for 5 days and then met with the other students in Spain. Then it was 16 days in Spain and 15 days in France.
HCUPR: What’s something each of you learned from the trip?
Fernando: That anything is possible when it comes to design. You can create anything.
Michelle: There are many possibilities. There is so much variety out there.
Marcos: That architecture is not limited to buildings, many shops give high importance to architecture when it comes to design.
Brian: There are many schools for designers and architecture schools. Oh! and in Barcelona everything was called Gaudí.
Fernando: Also, the importance of public transportation. How efficient, neccesary, and unlimited it is.
Michelle: You could see any type of people on the train. From low, working, middle and upper class. Everything. Plus it is so easy to take public transportation there and very cheap.
HCUPR: Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?
Michelle: I don’t know how I see myself but maybe I’m not going to be in Puerto Rico. I see myself in more than one place.
Marcos: I dont know, life is very unpredictable. I can’t see myself in just one place.
Fernando: I know I want to make my Master’s Degree outside. I see myself in a big Architecture firm.
HCUPR: Any tips for taking awesome pictures?
Fernando: Good composition and good lightning. Try to take pictures when you can see what you are capturing. If you can’t see how your picture looks like, don’t waste your time. For good composition, if you want to take a picture of somebody try to locate them on 1/3 of the picture. Know how to focus. Something really important for me is to let the moment happen, don’t try to stage the picture. If there is somebody in the way of something you want to photograph don’t wait for them to move, capture that moment because they are part of the picture.